Bye Bye Cellulite! Part 1 – Lifestyle

We all have it, the dimpling on our thighs, bottom, tummy or arms. Wherever it strikes – that dimpling can be really annoying! Can anything be done to make it better? I’m happy to say that the answer is yes!

Before I explain the solutions – both short & long term – I want to take a step back. With 90% of women affected by cellulite – including professional athletes and models – this is something we all face. So first love your body as it is. Of course protect and care for yourself, but love yourself as you are. If 90% of us have it – then we are all in the same boat!

What is Cellulite

Imagine fat cells as lego blocks beneath the skin. Between the lego blocks are thin connective cords (tissues). As the lego blocks get bigger and push up against the skin, the connective cords pull down. This leads to an uneven surface, referred to as cellulite. The reason why 90% of women have it and only 10% of men is because for women their connective tissue are vertical, whereas for men they are in a criss-cross pattern. Therefore to give our skin a better appearance we need to strengthen our connective tissues (and lose a little fat!).

What makes it worse?

Sitting all day – at the office, in the car, on the sofa at home, not exercising, eating processed high sugary foods, and wearing tight restrictive clothing – so our really skinny jeans, leggings, tights etc. We need our blood to circulate and these things make it much harder for it to do so.

Lifestyle enhancements

In order to strengthen our connective cords there are a number of things we can do to enhance our lifestyle that will make a difference. The key is for more blood circulation and assisting our lymphatic drainage capabilities. The impact is to drain the connective tissue as well as to strengthen them.

Hydration: 8 glasses of water a day which is a must for your skin and general wellbeing as well as herbal teas such as green, mint, chamomile this all helps with lympathic drainage.

Food: Eat more fruits, vegetables, fibrous foods and stay away from processed food, saturated fats and foods with high sugar content (including certain carbohydrates) this helps with your health overall as they reduce inflammation caused by sudden sugar highs whilst assisting with lympathic drainage. Whilst fat isn’t the cause, having foods that increase your body fat will make the lumps more noticeable, so having a healthy diet and maintaing your fat levels will definitely help. But remember rapid weight loss can make it worse because of the sudden surprise on your connective tissues. So sudden weight loss or gains will have an impact. So keep the balance!

Omega 3: Omegas strengthen our connective cords, whilst helping will all sorts of other things – our brain, our skin, our hair! However you add this to your diet, be it Avocados, Salmon (or other fishes), Ground Flaxseed (has to ground/ milled/ flax meal to be absorbed) in your salad, Chia seeds (added to your breakfast or smoothy) or a supplement (make sure it is really high quality) – do it DAILY!!!

Exercise: The key is to do something every day to get blood circulation going. Brisk walking, Yoga (yay!), Swimming, Tennis, whatever you like doing – even if you just have a brisk walk at the mall – get out and get active!

Yoga

I know that some of you are already doing all of the above and probably more (and better) – and of course there can still be some cellulite. I recently saw a picture of a renowned tennis player with tough cellulite. So we need to take it up a notch.

Massage treatment at the spa

One & Only Royal Mirage Dubai – Hammam

A non-invasive treatment that I found really effective on cellulite were cellulite massages every other day for at least 6 weeks at the spa. At first it gets worse, but then there is a huge improvement that really lasts for months afterwards. Because it has to be done so consistently find a Spa closeby or a therapist who can come to the house.